The National Advisory Council on Thursday debated universal entitlement of food grains under the UPA government’s ambitious Food Security Bill, with a special focus on reaching out to the last men among the poor.
The Council, headed by UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, also asked the working group on National Food Security Bill to hold consultations with all stakeholders and submit their recommendations in the next meeting.
The bill seeks to provide legal right to poor to get rice or wheat at Rs 3 per kilogram.
A panel of ministers had favoured that every household would be entitled to 25 kg of food grains every month, a suggestion that drew widespread criticism.
Critics of the bill have been demanding universal entitlement by ensuring coverage of every adult under the public distribution system.
They contended that under the scheme for BPL families, every household was entitled to 35 kg of foodgrains.
M S Swaminathan and Harsh Mander made presentations before the Council highlighting the need for moving for universal entitlement under the National Food Security Act.
